State v. Griffin

2020 Ohio 3707, 155 N.E.3d 1028
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided July 15, 2020·No. C-190369·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

STATE OF OHIO, : APPEAL NO. C-190369 TRIAL NO. 18CRB-29119A

Plaintiff-Appellee, :

vs. :

O P I N I O N.

TERRY LEE GRIFFIN, :

Defendant-Appellant. :

Criminal Appeal From: Hamilton County Municipal Court

Judgment Appealed From Is: Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part, and Cause Remanded

Date of Judgment Entry on Appeal: July 15, 2020

Paula Boggs Muething, City Solicitor, William T. Horsley, Chief Prosecuting Attorney, and Jon Vogt, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for Plaintiff-Appellee,

Raymond T. Faller, Hamilton County Public Defender, and David Hoffman, Assistant Pubilc Defender, for Defendant-Appellant.

CROUSE, Judge.

{¶1} Defendant-appellant Terry Lee Griffin was charged with improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle in violation of R.C. 2923.16(E)(1). After a two- day bench trial, he was found guilty, sentenced to 180 days in jail, and ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs. The court suspended the sentence and placed Griffin on probation for one year. The court also ordered that two handguns seized from him during the arrest be forfeited.

{¶2} Griffin has appealed, arguing in four assignments of error that: (1) his conviction was based on insufficient evidence and was against the manifest weight of the evidence; (2) the trial court erred in sentencing him for a first-degree misdemeanor rather than a minor misdemeanor; (3) the trial court erred in forfeiting the handguns that were confiscated from him at the time of his arrest; and (4) R.C. 2923.16(E)(1) is unconstitutionally vague and violates Article I, Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution, and the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

{¶3} For the following reasons, we sustain Griffin’s third assignment of error as to the Springfield firearm, but overrule it as to the Kel-Tek firearm. We overrule all other assignments of error and affirm the judgment of the trial court in all other respects.

Factual Background

{¶4} This case arose out of a traffic stop that took place on November 6, 2018. Ohio Highway State Trooper Matthew Allard arrested Griffin for failing to

promptly inform Allard of his concealed handgun license (“CHL”) and that he had two loaded firearms in the car.

{¶5} Allard testified that he was on patrol as a member of the “Violent Crimes Squad” along with several Cincinnati police officers. Allard testified that he was instructed by officers in an unmarked police car to pull Griffin over for excessive window tint. When Allard approached Griffin’s driver’s side window, he explained the reason for the stop and asked for his identification. Griffin opened his wallet and gave Allard his driver’s license. Allard testified that he looked inside the car and saw what he believed to be a CHL in Griffin’s wallet. He asked Griffin if he had a CHL, and Griffin replied, “Yes.” He then asked Griffin where the firearm was located, and Griffin told him that it was in between the center console and the driver’s seat (the Springfield firearm). Allard testified that when he asked Griffin why he did not immediately inform him of his CHL and the firearm, Griffin said, “Oh, I forgot.”

{¶6} Allard testified that he was not sure exactly how much time had passed from the moment he approached the window to the moment Griffin informed him of his CHL and the firearm. He claimed that Griffin had time to notify him about his CHL and the firearm either after Allard informed him of the reason for the stop, or when Griffin retrieved his identification and handed it to Allard.

{¶7} Allard testified that when he ordered Griffin out of the car, he asked if there was anything else in the car, and Griffin said, “No.” He testified that it was not until he placed Griffin in handcuffs and walked him to the back of the car that Griffin informed him that there was another firearm (the Kel-Tek) in the car.

{¶8} Griffin testified that when Allard approached his window, he had his identification and insurance card already in his hand. Griffin claimed that he thought

that he had his CHL in his hand as well, but it was in his wallet, “open in plain view where [Allard] could see it.” Griffin testified that Allard asked about firearms “not even two seconds” after he walked up to the window. Griffin testified that through his CHL training he was aware that he was required to disclose the presence of all firearms in the vehicle if pulled over by law enforcement. He admitted that at first he only disclosed the Springfield firearm. He testified that he did not initially disclose the Kel-Tek because it was not his and he forgot that it was in the car.

{¶9} Video from Allard’s police cruiser camera, which showed his interaction with Griffin, was admitted into evidence. No body camera video or audio of the interaction was admitted.

{¶10} A review of the cruiser camera video shows that at two minutes into the video, Allard approached Griffin’s driver’s side window. Allard appeared to take something in his hand at 2:06 and look down at it. He looked back in the car and appeared to continue talking with Griffin. At 2:18, Allard appeared to take something else in his hand and look down at it. He stood by Griffin’s car, alternating between talking on his radio and talking to Griffin. At 3:15, Allard removed Griffin from the car and placed him under arrest.

First Assignment of Error

{¶11} In his first assignment of error, Griffin argues that his conviction was not supported by sufficient evidence and was against the manifest weight of the evidence.

{¶12} The test for determining if the evidence was sufficient to sustain a conviction is whether, “after viewing the probative evidence and inferences reasonably drawn therefrom in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any

rational trier of fact could have found all the essential elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.” State v. MacDonald, 1st Dist. Hamilton No. C-180310, 2019- Ohio-3595, ¶ 12, quoting State v. Martin, 20 Ohio App.3d 172, 175, 485 N.E.2d 717 (1st Dist.1983). It is a question of law for the court to determine, the court is not to weigh the evidence. MacDonald at ¶ 12.

{¶13} As relevant, R.C. 2923.16(E)(1) provides that no person who has been issued a CHL that is the driver or occupant of a vehicle stopped as a result of a traffic stop shall:

Fail to promptly inform any law enforcement officer who approaches the vehicle while stopped that the person has been issued a concealed handgun license * * * and that the person then possesses or has a loaded handgun in the motor vehicle.

We note that it is undisputed that the handguns recovered from Griffin’s car were loaded.

{¶14} The first issue we must determine is the appropriate culpable mental state, the “mens rea.” R.C. 2923.16(E) provides five routes for a conviction of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle. Those routes are laid out in subsections (1) through (5). A conviction under R.C. 2923.16(E)(1) does not require a specified mens rea. Rather, the legislature only specified a mens rea in subsections (E)(3)-(5).

{¶15} The state argues that this is a strict liability offense and there is no culpable mental state. Griffin argues that the mens rea is recklessness.

{¶16} In State v. Johnson, 128 Ohio St.3d 107, 2010-Ohio-6301, 942 N.E.2d 347, ¶ 20-38, the Ohio Supreme Court analyzed three categories of offenses in order

to determine whether the statute in question imposed strict liability or required a mental state of recklessness. The court emphasized that “strict liability for an offense is the exception to the rule.” Id. at ¶ 18.

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State v. Griffin, 2020 Ohio 3707, 155 N.E.3d 1028 (Ohio Ct. App. 2020).

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